


Did You Need Something?

by phoenixquest



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-11
Updated: 2017-04-11
Packaged: 2018-10-17 20:06:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10601277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phoenixquest/pseuds/phoenixquest
Summary: Aria Lavellan is rather upset about what transpired at Din'an Hanin. Solas doesn't really understand, and she needs someone to vent to - so she turns to Cullen, the Commander she's come to respect. His friendship is just what she needs, and both parties end up feeling better.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a little "slice of life" thing that occurred to me and I wrote in one go, because it just kind of...happened after I played this part of the game. There's nothing romantic between Aria & Cullen; she's very much in love with Solas, but he's earned her respect and has become a kind of confidante for her, especially in times like these.

The Commander looked up at the sound of his door being thrown open, unsurprised to see Aria Lavellan standing in it. She wasn’t exactly an angry person, but when she was, she made sure you knew it; though he couldn’t imagine what had set her off this time.

“Hello, Commander,” she said stiffly, slamming the door back behind her.

“Inquisitor,” Cullen gave her a nod and returned to the reports on his desk. “Passing through?”

“No,” she snapped. “Can I just…sit here?” 

Without waiting for an answer, the angry elf plopped herself down into one of the chairs across the room from him.

“Feel free,” Cullen snorted, partially under his breath – it didn’t seem to matter what his answer would be, anyway. Not that he minded. She was rarely bad company.

After a few minutes of silence, Cullen curiously glanced up from his desk to see a very _brooding_ elf slung over the chair, legs over the side and her arms crossed in front of her as she glared at her knees.

“Did you need something?” Cullen ventured. 

He wasn’t quite sure why she did it, but sometimes she would just come in to sit with him – either working on her own things or sitting and doing nothing while he continued his work. Today, though, she was clearly upset about something. 

“No,” she snapped again, though her voice was much less harsh about it this time, sounding more defeated than anything. 

He smirked a little, waiting patiently as he returned to his reports.

Sure enough, a few minutes later… 

“Din’an Hanin,” she muttered, barely loud enough for him to hear. 

“Ah,” Cullen said knowingly. Her party had returned from the venture into the old Elven tomb just two days previous, and he’d read the reports; he knew what had happened. “Yes, that was…a mess.”

“It’s so _unfair_!” Aria burst out, flinging her hands up in the air and turning to look at him. “I know, I know, Corypheus takes _everything_ and ruins it, always, _forever_ , because that’s what he _does_. But I’m so _tired_ of it!” She huffed out an angry breath. “What right did he have to even be near that tomb? What right does he have to interfere with the belongings of _my people_?” She was yelling now, her ears turning red in her anger. “It’s not enough to try to end the _fucking_ world, is it, no, he has to pull this petty nonsense while doing it?”

Cullen couldn’t suppress another smirk; Aria had been fairly soft-spoken when he’d first met her, but spending more time around the dwarf – and Sera, for that matter – had made her vocabulary much more _colorful_.

“I know,” he agreed, trying to sound soothing. He knew he wasn’t always good at it, but he did try, and he very much considered the Inquisitor a friend; he wanted to help her, if he could. “It’s terrible; it always is. But we’re going to stop him, Inquisitor.”

“We had better,” Aria growled. 

Cullen had no doubt in his mind, after all that had occurred, that the Inquisitor would happily pull Corypheus’ heart from his chest herself, if given half a chance. He hoped very much to give her that chance. 

She sighed then, her face falling. 

“Just…all those people. We lost all those people, just for a bit of Elven history. Bad enough he keeps going after the Inquisiton’s forces, but he had to kill the elves, too? Taven, who just wanted to explore…wanted to find something. Wanted to return a bit of our history. As though we haven’t lost enough of it.”

Cullen was surprised to see tears in her eyes now; the Inquisitor rarely cried, and he hadn’t seen it often. He wasn’t sure what to say; he didn’t know that much of the elves, after all. It seemed like anything he could offer would sound shallow.

“Wouldn’t you rather talk to Solas about this?” Cullen suggested. “Surely he’d have more insight than I could give…”

“If you don’t want me here, you can just _say_ so,” Aria snapped, returning to anger at once.

“No, that’s not what I meant,” Cullen hurried to clarify, holding up a hand to her in peace. “I’m sorry. I just…don’t quite know what to say.”

“Neither does he,” Aria shook her head, a frown twisting her mouth. “He’s more interested in the history of the place…he looks at it like it’s just another event to study. He can be so…so… _scholarly_ sometimes.” She wrinkled her nose, and Cullen couldn’t help letting out a small chuckle.

“With as much as you let him go on, I thought you enjoyed it,” he remarked. He’d often been bored to the point of sleep by listening to the elf go on about some memory or another, but Aria was always hanging on his every word.

“I do,” Aria allowed. “Just…it isn’t _just_ about the history. Real lives were taken. Inquisition lives. _Dalish_ lives. I…I tried to protect them,” she murmured. “That’s why I sent our troops. _Your_ troops.” She snorted, disgusted. “Fat lot of good that did.”

“You know my men did their best,” Cullen said, a bite to his voice; he didn’t appreciate her insinuation about his men.

“Of course they did,” Aria said, waving her hand impatiently. “But it was _my_ decision, wasn’t it? _I_ chose to have them go protect the Dalish explorers, to help them out. And they all died for it anyway.”

“I see,” Cullen said, softening at that. He sighed, getting up from his spot behind his desk and walking over to her, taking the chair opposite. “It’s a shame, there’s no denying that. But you can hardly blame yourself. If you hadn’t sent our troops, we wouldn’t have known there were red Templars there, would we? And the Dalish would still have perished.”

“ _You’re_ one to talk about not blaming yourself,” Aria said wryly, glancing over at him. 

Cullen laughed, knowing she was right.

“Fair enough,” he conceded. “But it’s still true.” He paused for a moment, thinking over his words, and then reached over to put a gentle hand on her arm. “For what it’s worth…I’m sorry, that the elves didn’t make it.”

Aria gave him a small smile, putting her hand on his own and patting it.

“Thank you, Cullen,” she said sincerely. “I appreciate it.” After a moment, she spoke again. “I got a letter from Keeper Hawen, about the whole thing. You know we found out about Red Crossing and all. He wants to give them a halla, as a ‘sign of mourning’.”

“And I suppose you have to be involved, being the Inquisitor?” Cullen smirked, moving his hand off her. 

Aria laughed.

“That’s usually it, isn’t it?” she agreed. “But not entirely. He knows the village would never trust the clan, so he wants me to convince them to accept it as a symbol of good faith from them. I suppose even being Dalish, being the Inquisitor holds some weight, so…”

“Sounds simple enough,” Cullen nodded.

“Josephine doesn’t seem to think so,” Aria snorted. “She said she _can_ make it happen, but it will ‘end two marriages and lead to at least one duel.’” Cullen rolled his eyes. “Leliana’s plan was worse, though,” Aria went on. “She wants to convince the leaders they’re accepting a _trophy_ in the blasted thing, to honor their _victory_ over the Dalish. Which is exactly the opposite of the point Keeper Hawen wants to make, of course. And I find it rather insulting, myself.”

“That sounds like Leliana,” Cullen shook his head; the spymaster was always looking for the simplest way to make things work, whatever the cost. “Alright, then. You don’t like their plans. What if I offer troops to guard the thing and march it into Red Crossing ourselves? They can take it whether they like it or not,” he grinned. 

Aria laughed at that, shaking her head.

“You’re ridiculous, all three of you,” she said. “I’ll figure something out. The poor halla seems to have no say in the matter. I may just take it for myself.”

“Yes, that’s what we need,” Cullen said dryly. “More mouths to feed.”

“Oh, shut up,” Aria teased. “We’re doing fine and you know it.” She sighed, turning her gaze out the window. “ _Are_ we doing okay?” she asked. “Will we be able to…to _do_ this?”

“We’re doing better every day,” Cullen promised. “When the time comes to take care of Corypheus once and for all, we’ll be ready. You have my word.” 

Aria turned her gaze back to him with a soft smile.

“And I’ve never had reason to doubt that,” she nodded. “Thanks, Cullen.”

“Of course, Inquisitor,” Cullen said. “Are you feeling any better?”

“I am,” she said. “I suppose I should let you get back to your reports.”

“And I’m sure you have other things to attend to,” he agreed, getting to his feet.

“Well, probably,” she snorted. “When don’t I? But maybe I’ll blow off the meetings with the nobles,” she added, getting up as well. “Want to play chess?”

Cullen grinned at her.

“You’re going to give Josephine fits, you know,” he said. He glanced at his desk; he really _should_ finish going through his reports.

“Don’t make me give you an order,” Aria teased. “Come on. Josephine will survive.”

“Alright,” Cullen agreed, shaking his head fondly at the Inquisitor. She certainly made his life more interesting.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked it :) I feed on kudos and comments!


End file.
